Category Archives: Lake Havasu

[Source: John Rudolf, Havasu News] — Hundreds of thousands of boaters visit Lake Havasu every year, making the lake the busiest waterway in Arizona. All those boating hours also add up to a whole lot of gasoline sales — and gas taxes for the state. To give some of those funds back, the state created a special funding program for lake improvements, that provides cash for public safety, recreation and other needs. Funding is on a project-by-project basis, and varies from year-to-year, but Lake Havasu is typically the state’s largest recipient of the monies. Yet with a state budget crunch threatening to cut into state parks funding for projects on Lake Havasu, Gov. Napolitano and leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees have indicated that they would cut those funds to make up for the current budget deficit.

With that grim prospect on the horizon, the City Council will weigh at their next meeting the priority level of four lake improvement projects, with the possibility that funding may not exist for all four. Once priority is established, the council will vote to advance the proposals to the Arizona State Parks board. The first of the projects is to dredge the shoreline adjacent to Rotary Park and the Bridgewater Channel. City staff said the project is important because erosion and silting are creating navigation hazards. Another application would ask for an additional $1.4 million to build infrastructure at the proposed mainland boat launch ramp at Contact Point. The city previously secured about $420,000 for the project in 2005. Two other projects would provide funds for fire and rescue functions, and police enforcement in the Channel area.